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MelanieC
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 10:26 pm: | 
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Hello all,
I just received a Canonet fixer-upper with two problems I can work around, but would like to try to fix. Keep in mind, however, that I have (a) only been playing with manual, mechanical cameras for about a month and (b) am not particularly mechanically inclined. That said, I got the Canonet for $35 and am probably not going to send it somewhere for an expensive service.
Everything about the camera is in perfect working order except:
(1) The shutter sticks occasionally. I have not thus far used the camera in auto mode so that isn't it. I'll advance the film, press the button, and nothing, nothing, nothing. I can solve this problem by advancing the film a couple more times (see #2) but that wastes frames.
(2) The film advance lever will allow you to advance film even if the shutter has not been fired, thus skipping frames. This is not a big problem for me since I am way more likely to forget to advance film than to advance it prematurely, but I figure this symptom may be related to (1) above so I'm describing it.
I bought the camera knowing of these two issues and am quite happy with it, but if I can get under the hood and work them out I'm willing to try, or convince a friend who likes to do these kinds of things to try.
I'm very impressed with this camera. I bought it as a backup for my Leica M3, which I inherited from my father. I know very little about either of these cameras, but I can see why the Canonets are so popular and considered such an excellent value.
Thanks very much, Melanie |
Dave
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2006 - 11:28 pm: |
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Hello,
Try putting the camera on the highest shutter speed and repeatedly fire the shutter as you watch tv to loosen things up. Another idea may be to set it on top of the tv or vcr for a few hours to warm up gradually and loosen old thick lubricant,then fire at top speed for a while.......then go through all the shutter speeds and see if it still sticks. |
Winfried
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 01, 2006 - 12:27 am: |
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There is an article on the sticky shutter issue in the repair article section: Canonet blade cleaning.
The advance lever problem is a bit more tricky. The Canonet has a mechanism allowing for advancing the film 2 times without firing the shutter when the frame counter is reset (to the S position). When the frame counter has reached #1, a latch should block the advance lever until the shutter button is depressed. Maybe there is a slightly misbent lever or a misbent spring in the frame counter area. |
Reiner
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 04, 2006 - 04:11 am: |
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Hi Melanie,
against sticky shutters like yours I had some success with a few drops of lighter fluid or isopropanol into the self timer slot. Then fire the shutter very often at 1/4 S (slowest speed). Usually everything works reliable as long as the shutters are still wet. When they are not too sticky they often stay in working condition even when they are dry again. However the method has a risk. Small drops of the solvent might attach to the internal lens surfaces and they might leave deposits after drying. In this case it is necessary to open the lens and to clean the surfaces. But mostly it works good. Good luck. |
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